Katie
by Tazmy
Summary: Rodney's in the infirmary again. Sheppard meets Katie Brown for the first time. Season three vignette.


Characters: Sheppard, Katie Brown, Team

Pairing: Mentions of Katie/Rodney but nothing that isn't already in the show.

This is set in season three. Sometime after Tao of Rodney and before The Game.

Thanks to Sholio for the beta.

.o.

Rodney was a selfish bastard. It was the only explanation I could come up with for Rodney's actions. Jumping in front of a gun, for me? Rodney knew better! Knew it was my job to protect him and not the other way around. If either of us were to die on the battlefield it was supposed to be me.

Rodney didn't care for the rules, though, did he? Not even thinking of what it would be like for me if he died, he'd foolishly leaped before the gun. "I won't let you kill him," he stammered, and though his back was turned to me I could imagine his wide frightened eyes. As it was, I could see him tremble. His chin was held high, though. He was determined.

"McKay!" I pushed him away because this was stupid. None of us were armed. None of us had any way to stop the mad man from pulling the trigger and exacting his revenge.

I barely registered the shot. Rodney collapsed into my arms. My world stopped. Rage boiled within me. I would have killed the shooter, too, if it hadn't been for Ronon. He stepped over, calmly and quickly. He grabbed the guy's head. There was a snap and the shooter slumped to the ground, his head bowed at an odd angle.

Ronon had to do it. I knew that. The fool had signed his death warrant the moment he pulled the trigger. So why did I suddenly feel so sick?

Ronon grabbed Rodney and ran. Luckily the gate was right there so there wasn't far to go. Teyla and I helped Carson onto his one good leg then followed Ronon through the gate.

I wasn't even sure where Rodney had been shot, as the gun had been waved around so much. But that was point blank. How much hope could there be?

The infirmary bustled with nurses and doctors scurrying to help the newly arrived patients. We left Rodney in their care and each took a seat on a gurney and waited. And waited.

How could Rodney do this to me? He'd better not die.

It seemed an eternity before Dr. Biro came to talk to us, taking off her surgical cap. To my surprise, she smiled. "He's a very lucky man," she said. Had I not been leaning on the wall, I would have fallen over with relief.

Turned out the shooter's gun didn't have a lot of oomf to it. Point blank from that gun was like shooting a nine-millimeter from five hundred feet away. Why anyone would build a gun like that was beyond me. I wasn't going to question it, though. The tiny bullet had barely pierced Rodney's skin and had missed anything vital. There was a lot of worry about Rodney going septic or other complications, but the probabilities were weighing on this side and that meant he was going to be fine.

Biro kicked me out of the infirmary to sleep and eat, neither of which I really needed. She let Teyla and Ronon stay. She'd kick us out in turns, but I had to go first. It gave me all the time I needed to think about how to properly berate Rodney for that little stunt of his.

Brown and white swirls hardly looked like food anymore as I swept the fork around my plate. There were ten more minutes to go and time was moving so damn slowly.

"Excuse me," a soft voice called. I looked up to see a short red-head holding a tray and looking at me with wide, terrified eyes. I had seen her around Atlantis before, but I couldn't place which department she worked in, much less who she was.

One glance around the commissary confirmed she was the only one here, but why she was bothering me, I couldn't say.

"What can I do for you?" I asked, trying to be polite but very much wishing she'd get the hint to leave. I didn't do well with people, not really, and today was not one of my better days. I didn't need the company of a stranger.

"I'm uh," she tripped over her words nervously, "I'm Katie Brown. I don't want to disturb you but I was just wondering…I…I need to know."

Her name rang a bell, but I couldn't place it. Examining her, I saw that the bags under her eyes were as dark as Rodney's on a bad week. Clearly she hadn't slept in a while, and I wondered if I looked just as bad as she did. "Sit." I motioned to the chair, unable to take the fidgeting much longer.

She pulled out the chair, nearly toppling over her tray in the process. Catching it, she fumbled it onto the table and then quickly sat down, her arms drawn close to her chest. She didn't say anything.

"So what can I do for you?" I asked, faking a smile in order to reassure her.

"I…I just came to ask…See, Carson normally tells me but I guess he's injured and Biro... I…I wanted to know how Rodney is."

She said the last part quickly, as if racing through the words made them easier to get them out.

My fork clattered against my plate. I leaned back casually, examining this nervous woman. There were a handful of people on Atlantis that referred to McKay by his first name, and I was fairly sure I knew all of them.

"He's holding his own," I answered cautiously.

Immediately she perked up, as though a ten-ton truck had backed off her chest. "Good. That's good. I won't disturb you any longer."

She kicked back her chair as if to leave, but there was no way I was going to let this happen. A mysterious woman had come to ask about Rodney, the least I could do was figure out who she was.

"So how do you know him?"

She turned back to me with even wider eyes than before. "Oh, no, I'm... If Rodney hasn't told you then I…I really shouldn't. I should go."

She started for the door, but I grabbed her arm keeping her in place. So Rodney had a girlfriend? Wait, Rodney had a girlfriend and hadn't told me? How did that happen?

She tried to pull free from my hold, and I let her. "Hold on," I told her before letting go. She made no further move to leave. "I'm headed back to the infirmary now. You can wait with us, if you want."

"Oh. No, no that's okay, I should really…" she pointed behind her, slowly backing away. "You're the team and you're kind of, you know," she made a gesture with her hands that probably meant 'close knit'.

Truth was, only Radek, Elizabeth, and Carson ever waited with us in the infirmary. She had us pegged. We liked to worry alone in our little circle. But this Katie, whoever she was, cared for him too. "Really, it's okay. We won't bite. Well, Ronon will, but Teyla usually manages to stop him." I added a grin for extra comfort.

"No…I…If you're sure."

She lagged behind me the whole way. Once we got to the infirmary she poked her head through the door cautiously and I waved for her to enter.

"Who's this?" Ronon asked, eyeing her suspiciously. Katie immediately poked her head out of the door and did not enter.

Smirking, I mouthed to my friends, "Rodney's got a girlfriend."

Ronon glanced back at the door and then to me. "Seriously?" he asked dubiously.

I nodded. "Our Rodney, social inept extraordinaire, has found himself a girl."

"Didn't tell me." Ronon crossed his arms looking hurt, and who could blame him really? We were a team. We shared everything.

Teyla leapt from the gurney on which she had been sitting. "Please," she called. "You may come in. Any friend of Rodney's is a friend of ours."

Katie hadn't gone far, apparently, because she poked her head back in and shuffled forward. "Thank you."

"It is no problem. Would you like some coffee?"

"No, I'm good. Th…thanks."

Preliminaries done with, I had Katie just where I wanted her. Leaning casually against the wall, I asked, "So how long have you two been dating?"

It was too bad Katie hadn't accepted the coffee or that would have been a classic spit take scene.

"I'm sorry?"

"You mentioned Carson would you give you his status before. Why have you never waited with us? How long? A month? Two months?"

Just two months ago, we had thought Rodney was going to evolve himself to death. She hadn't been anywhere near his deathbed. Either she was a bad girlfriend, or she was fairly new to the game.

"This was a mistake," Katie mumbled, backing away, but Ronon blocked her path.

"Do you love him?" Ronon asked. Teyla had a cup of coffee to her lips, but managed to avoid spitting. Neither of us had been expecting Ronon to ask that question, but it was pointed and right to the crux of things. It was very Ronon.

"I…" Katie looked to each of us as though we were a pack of circling wolves. The poor thing had no idea what she was messing with when she found Rodney. We were his team. We were his protectors and at least a thousand times more intimidating than worried parents.

Unfortunately it was at this time that Biro entered, saving Katie from our intimidation. "He's not awake yet, but you can see him now. Just be sure to keep your voices down."

Teyla and Ronon moved to the door, but Katie stayed still. I could see her tremble as she hugged herself. "Come on," I told her. "You can see for yourself that he's okay."

Katie came to her senses, taking one foot in front of the other. She smiled at me and I realized Rodney had bagged himself a pretty one—time would tell if she was good for him.

I was the last to enter. Truth be told, I was afraid of seeing Rodney's pale face as he lay there vulnerable. When I finally gathered the courage, I focused on the beeping machines. They reminded me he was alive. He was well.

In the silence, I promised myself I'd never let him do anything this stupid again. Ever. Add this to the fact he'd been hiding a girlfriend from us, and, well, maybe it was good for him he was asleep. It would give me a chance to calm some before berating (and teasing) him properly.

The End


End file.
